


Tick-Tock

by DawnTheVamp



Series: Race The Clock [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2003), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Gen, Possible Character Death, Sick Character, pretty short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-18
Updated: 2016-06-14
Packaged: 2018-04-21 09:35:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4823975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnTheVamp/pseuds/DawnTheVamp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based after season 3 episode 22 of the 2012 version. What if the gas had worse effects on Leonardo and Raphael than Donatello first thought just because they were mutants? More importantly, can he save them in time?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This is my first TMNT fanfic, so please go easy on me! It is very likely I won’t get the personalities etc. right for a while, but please do tell me whenever I slip up, it helps a lot! Although it is likely it’ll be more of a cross between the 2003 and 2012 versions as I watch both shows. Anyway I’ve had this idea bouncing around my head for a while now and have finally decided to type it up. I hope you guys enjoy!  
> Takes place right after Season 3 Episode 22: Creeping Doom  
> Disclaimer: I don’t own TMNT or any of the characters, only the plot!

_“You know,” Donnie said as he placed a hand on Mikey’s shoulder, “I gotta admit, sometimes I can be a little hard on you and act like you’re not as smart as me.” He smiled as he walked past them, heading for the door._

_Mikey grinned as he shrugged. “No worries bruh.”_

_Donatello continued, talking over his shoulder as he kept walking. “But now, I finally understand how you feel all the time.”_

_“Thanks Donnie.” Mikey was looking pretty proud of himself, until he worked out exactly what his brother had meant. “Wait a sec…” He growled before leaping for his older brother. “DONNIE!”_

* * *

 

Leo chuckled to himself as he watched his two youngest siblings rolling around on the floor. It was nothing violent, especially when compared to his and Raph’s normal fights. Speaking of which, the emerald turtle was leaning back against the table in Donnie’s lab, shaking his head in amusement as he watched the two.

Looking around at his family, Leonardo was glad that they were all safe despite what had happened earlier that day. Still, he couldn’t help but feel he had failed them in some way. They’d barely even started the fight with Snakeweed before he’d succumbed to the effects of the gas, leaving his brothers to fend for themselves. While Leo realised there was probably nothing he could have done, it didn’t ease the guilt gnawing away at him.

At some point, Leo’s thoughts must have shown on his face as the next thing he knew April was standing next to him, frowning. “Everything okay, Leo?” She asked, drawing Raphael’s attention.

Leo quickly nodded his head, realising he’d been frowning himself. “Yeah, everything’s fine April. Just thinking about a few-“ Leo was cut off suddenly as he found himself in a coughing fit, unconsciously gripping April’s shoulder for support. One of her hands rested on his carapace, the other on his plastron trying to support his weight while her frown had only deepened.

By the time his coughing had stopped, Leo was gasping for breath. Only to make things worse, he’d drawn both Donnie and Mikey’s attention now. _Great… Just great._ He thought to himself, straightening when he realised that during his coughing fit he’d doubled over.

Before any of his brothers could say anything, Leonardo had removed his hand from April’s shoulder and stepped away from her. “I’m fine.” He almost snapped, just as Donatello had been about to speak. “It’s just a cough or something, it’ll pass.” Leo then moved past his brothers, “I’ll be in the dojo if you need me.” He said over his shoulder before closing Donnie’s lab door behind him.

Raph watched the door for a few seconds before Donnie’s voice drew his attention away from it. “That’s strange…”

He frowned at his younger brother. “What do you mean Don?”

Sighing, Donatello rolling his eyes. “I’ve told you this before. Due to our DNA structure from the mutation, it’s not possible for us to catch most diseases and illnesses.”

“So you’re saying something else is up with fearless? That he’s either lying to us or just doesn’t know what’s going on?”

“Pretty much, however this is either some other version of the cold virus that has mutated to infect us, or something much more serious.” Donnie said the last part as he walked over to his desk, sitting down in front of his computer. “And before you ask Raph, no I don’t know what it is. There are lots of things that start with coughing.”

Raphael shrugged. “Well let us know when you find something, I’m gonna see exactly what Leo is up to. You coming Mikey?”

So far, the youngest of the turtles had been silent, standing by April as they both watched Donnie and Raph talk. Now that Raph had walked over to the door, Mikey shook his head. “You go ahead dude, I got other plans.” He then suddenly took a smoke bomb from his belt, throwing it onto the ground before any of them could do anything. Like always, once the smoke had cleared, he was gone.

Donnie growled. “MIKEY! I told you not to waste them!” He shouted after his younger brother.

Raph chuckled as he left April to deal with Donnie while he made his way over to the dojo. Inside, he could hear Leonardo’s katana slicing through air. Raph leant against the doorway of the dojo as he watched his elder brother for a few minutes. Finally, Leo sheathed his katana. “What is it Raph?” Leo asked, sounding surprisingly calm despite what mood Raphael had thought his older sibling would be in.

“Nothing really, just came to see what you were doing. You know, sparring air isn’t even half as fun as sparring someone else.” There was a hint of a challenge in Raph’s voice, and from the look on Leo’s face, he’d noticed.

“You’re on Raph.” Leo smiled, already moving to his normal position to start a spar.

This was going to be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Less than 12 hours after I posted the first chapter and I already have people asking for more! You have no idea how happy I am.  
> Because I’m in such a good mood (and because I’m bored and its 1am my time) I’m merging Chapter 2 and 3 into one, to make one huge chapter 2. Also I seemed to have settled for Leo, Donnie and Mikey all having the personalities from the 2012 version while Raph speaks and such like the 2003 version. Told you I might mix the two xD  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy!

The two eldest siblings stood opposite each other, neither moving for what seemed like hours.

Like normal, Raphael was the first to strike. He’d closed the distance between them within a second, his fist already aimed up for Leo’s jaw. Leo leaned back as far as his shell would allow him, letting Raph’s fist go past before grabbing his sibling’s arm with one hand and blocking another blow with the other. Leonardo then dropped to the floor, sweeping Raph’s legs out from under him, resulting in younger turtle landing on his shell.

Raph rolled to the side to avoid a kick to the side and came up in a crouch, then having to raise a forearm to avoid an elbow to his head. Straightening, the two paused. For Leo, it was to catch his breath, even though he was never normally this worn out so quickly. For Raph, it was just to watch his older brother, noting that Leo’s last attack had been weaker than normal. Both turtles were unaware of their sensei watching from the corner of the room.

The next thing Raph knew, Leonardo had drawn both his katanas, keeping them down by his sides with the tips barely an inch from the floor. Raphael huffed, smirking as he drew both his sai with his normal twirl then settled into a side on stance, one sai ready to defend, the other to strike. “Now things are gettin’ interestin’” Raph said, right before his older brother moved.

Leo had moved forward, both his blades coming in at different angles, forcing Raph to block with both his sai in a way that made his greater strength useless. And Leo knew it.

Still, it wasn’t like Leonardo hadn’t used this tactic before, and Raphael knew exactly how to turn the tables. Twisting his sai, they easily slide along the blades of Leo’s katanas then trapped Leo’s wrists between their prongs. Now Raph was able to throw his weight around, yanking his older brother off his feet and throwing him to the ground, losing his grip on one katana.

Smirking at his small victory, Raphael kicked the hilt of the katana, sending it skidding across half the dojo. “There goes half ya chance of winning fearless, what you gonna do?”

If Raph hadn’t seen his brother tense, he wouldn’t have expected the next attack. Leo suddenly managed to leap to his feet, already swinging his katana for Raph. The younger turtle was forced to cross his sai in front of him in defence. “Win.” Leo replied, smiling.

This was something Raphael found didn’t seem to happen enough. Him and Leonardo sparring without arguing or trying to kill one another. Most spars like this would end in a grudge between them that could last from a few minutes to a few weeks, normally depending on who started it.

Luckily for Raph, this kind of move required greater strength than your opponent to win, which Raph obviously had. Managing to shove his brother’s katana away for a split second, he then landed a kick right in the centre of Leo’s plastron. What worried Raph was the effect it had on Leo.

It wasn’t like Raphael had kicked him hard, if anything he’d been quite gentle. Despite this, Leo flew backwards like he’d been shot from a cannon, hitting the far wall then collapsing to the floor and didn’t show any sign of getting up. Raph froze, hoping that any second his brother would get up and continue, yet Leonardo still didn’t move.

“Leo?” Raph sheathed his sai then quickly knelt by his brother, carefully rolling him onto his carapace. “Hey Leo, speak to me. You alright bro?”

Leo slowly attempted to sit up. “I’m fine.” He muttered, before his body was racked with coughs. His coughing fit in Donnie’s lab had been bad enough, yet this one seemed to be much worse. Leo was barely able to draw in a breath and it seemed to go on forever.

When Splinter walked forward, Raph could have sworn he’d almost been scared out of his shell. “Raphael, what has happened to your brother?”

“It’s nothing… Sensei…” Leo managed to say with what little breath he had, yet Raph ignored him.

“I don’t know sensei, he’s been like this ever since we got back from fighting Snakeweed. Donnie thinks it might be some kinda virus…” Raph looked from his sensei back down to his brother, who’s coughing had finally died down.

When Raphael was sure his brother wasn’t going to collapse into another coughing fit, he slowly helped him up. “Alright Leo, you’re goin’ to see Donnie.”

“What? Raph I told you, I’m fine.” Leonardo tried pulling away, although Raph kept a tight grip on his shoulder.

Raph sighed, glancing at Splinter who gave him a small nod, then started dragging his older brother towards Donnie’s lab. The whole time, Leo wouldn’t stop complaining.

When Raph walked in the lab door half dragging Leo, Donnie didn’t look surprised. April had left to go home as it was getting late, leaving Donatello to try to figure out what was wrong with his eldest brother alone.

Leonardo sighed in defeat when he realised he wasn’t getting out of this one. He leant against Donnie’s desk and Raph just rolled his eyes. “Fearless here thinks there’s nothing wrong with him. Care to give your opinion Don?” Raph asked, giving Leo a quick glance before turning to his younger brother.

“I already told you I don’t know, Raph.” Donatello frowned as he stood from his chair, standing in front of Leonardo. “Leo, what kind of symptoms have you been experiencing?”

“What? Besides the suffocating coughing fits?” Leo snapped, crossing his arms over his plastron.

Raph frowned. “Sarcasm and bursts of anger are my thing, now there’s definitely something wrong with ya.”

Donnie shot Raphael a quick glare then turned back to Leo. “Yeah… Anything else?”

Leo paused, seeming like he was deciding what to tell Donnie and what to keep to himself. “I’ve been getting… Dizzy…” He finally admitted. “I tire faster as well.”

Nodding, Donatello then picked up his stethoscope that he had a habit of leaving on his desk. Sometimes Leo wondered where his younger brother actually got all this stuff from, yet he’d never bothered to ask. He remained silent at Donnie checked his pulse and breathing, then frowned when Donnie went straight back over to his computer, typing something in rapidly on his keyboard.

After a few minutes of watching Donnie typing, Raph cleared his throat. “So?...”

Donnie glanced up from his computer screen. “Leo’s heart rate is slightly above average, for us anyway, and his breathing sounds strained.” Sighing, he leant back in his chair, glaring at his computer screen. “Honestly, nothing matches… I just don’t know what’s wrong…” He muttered.

Raphael slowly shook his head. “So that’s it? Ya got nothin’?”

“I can continue to look into it Raph, but until I come up with something…” He turned towards Leo. “You need to stay in the lair.”

"What?! Donnie you can't be serious." If Leo had been pissed off before, Raph didn't know what to call this. "I can't be stuck here because of some cough!"

Donnie sighed, something that was very common whenever he was dealing with one of his stubborn older brothers. "It's for your own good Leo... Think of it this way; if you stay down here and do what I say then you'll recover faster and you can head topside again."

Leonardo scowled, then pushed past his brother to head for the lab door. "You can't stop me Donnie. It'll be dark soon, I'm heading out now."

"Oh no you ain't Leo." Raph said, moving to block his older brother. "Didn't ya hear Donnie? Your stayin' down here." Leo looked like he was about to argue, yet he then closed his eyes, looking like he was in pain. Without warning, he suddenly toppled to the side. "Leo!" Raph had to drive forward to catch his brother.

Leo had gone limp, his breathing uneven and strained, like he'd just finished a long run. Raphael rested the back of his hand on Leo's forehead. "Don, he's burnin' up."

“Lie him down somewhere, like the couch, I’ll see what I can do.” Donatello had already sat down and was typing away on his computer.

Raph could only hope that his brother would be able to figure out what was wrong with Leo as he then carried his older brother out of the lab to see Michelangelo playing one of his video games, leaning left and right along with the character while the tip of his tongue stuck out the side of his mouth. Normally Raph would have teased his youngest sibling, but right now wasn’t the time. “Move it, shell for brains!” He snapped, startling Mikey.

The youngest of the turtles had stood up from the couch instantly, worried eyes settling on his now unconscious eldest brother as Raph laid him down on the couch. “Mikey, go get a damp cloth would ya?” Raph said, knowing Mikey would be more comfortable if he had something to do. Raphael ignored the worried glances Mikey would give Leo as he made his way to the kitchen. He then pulled one of the blankets from the back of the couch over Leo, slightly surprised when Leonardo didn’t suddenly wake up. He normally hated being babied like this.

Donnie came out of his lab a few minutes later, shaking his head as he muttered to himself. “It’s not possible… Anything I can find that even begins to fit Leo’s condition we’re immune to. For once I just don’t know what to do.”

Mikey then returned with the damp cloth, placing it across Leo’s forehead. “Dudes, his temperature is higher than a pizza oven!”

“Thanks for that, Mikey…” Raph muttered. “So we just sit around and hope whatever this is passes? No offense Don, but for all we know, this could be fatal!”

Donnie was saved from answering when Leo groaned, pushing himself up onto one elbow before opening his eyes to see his three brothers staring at him. “Uhh… What’d I miss?”

Mikey practically threw himself at Leo. “Leo! You’re okay!”

“Um, yeah… Again, what’d I miss? I wasn’t in another coma was I?” Leonardo reached up to pull the damp cloth from his forehead, sitting up as much as he could with Mikey still clinging to him.

Raphael growled. “No, but it sure seemed like you were gonna be. Damnit Leo, when are ya gonna start thinkin’ about looking after yourself for once? Just walkin’ around made ya pass out for a few minutes, what’s goin’ topside gonna do to ya?”

Leo narrowed his eyes, gently pushing Mikey off him. “My whole job as a leader is to think about my team, not myself.” He snapped.

“Leonardo!” All four turtles flinched at their sensei’s voice as the rat walked in from the dojo, his cane tapping along the floor. “Your brother is right, your health is what matters right now.” Raph, Donnie and Mikey had all backed away without realising, allowing their sensei to walk right up to Leo.

“But sensei! You’ve always taught me that I have to look out for my team, that it’s my job as leader.” The small amount of anger that had taken control of Leo moments ago was now gone, leaving him looking guilty that he’d been caught by Splinter.

Splinter narrowed his eyes slightly, pausing before answering. “Yes Leonardo, I did teach you that, yet you must also understand that a leader must have some concern for themselves too.” Leo went to stand up, yet Splinter placed a paw on his shoulder, forcing him to sit down again. “How are you going to lead your team if you are not well?” When Leo didn’t reply, Splinter sighed. “Rest, my son. You can leave the lair when you are well again.”

Leo bowed his head, “Hai sensei…” Once Splinter had gone, he stood up and headed straight for his room, leaving his three younger brothers to wonder if Leo would actually listen to their sensei.

* * *

 

The next few days seemed like the longest of Raphael's life. Leonardo had taken more persuasion than they had thought to make him stay in the lair, and the three youngest turtles had come to the conclusion that they would also have to stay in the lair to keep an eye on their stubborn eldest brother. While Leo was insisting he was feeling better, his coughing fits had become more regular and it wasn't uncommon for Leo to suddenly lose his balance, stumbling into something, or someone. Yet this wasn't what worried Raph.

For the past day, Leo had been spending more time in his room and Raph could have sworn he was talking to someone. Sometimes it would be in hushed tones, like no one could ever know what he was talking about and other times Leo sounded like he was trying to shout to someone on the other side of the earth. No matter how loud Leonardo was, none of the brothers seemed able to work out what he was saying. Even Mikey, who claimed he could understand crazy, had no clue what their eldest brother was talking about.

Today freaked them out even more. Raph walked out of his room to see Leo sat on the couch, his legs pulled up tightly to his plastron, with his arms wrapped around them and his chin on his knees, rocking slightly and Raph was sure he could hear the blue banded turtle muttering to himself. Moving carefully past him, Raph made his way to the kitchen to see his two younger brothers already there, looking like they were stuck in a zombie apocalypse. “I’m guessin’ you’ve seen fearless then?” Raph said, raising an eye ridge at the two.

Mikey nodded, his normally fun-loving personality replaced with a seriousness that really didn’t suite him. “He’s freaking me out dude… And we can’t work out what he’s even muttering about. D tried to talk to him, but Leo just snapped at him then went back to his muttering.”

“Well whatever is wrong with him, he’s getting worse.” Donnie added. “I’ve worked out that it is definitely some kind of virus, but I can’t start working on an antidote unless I can get a sample of Leo’s blood, which seems impossible right now.”

Raph pulled one of his sai from his belt, twirling it before gripping handle. “I could always get ya that blood sample, might be more than ya need though.”

“Raph! We’re serious!” Mikey snapped, another thing that was uncommon for him.

Raphael rolled his eyes yet returned his sai to his belt, right before the tapping of a cane signalled their sensei’s arrival. “My sons, have you seen Leonardo?” The rat seemed more on edge than usual, the tip of his tail twitching.

“Last we saw of him sensei, he was on the couch.” Donatello frowned. “Why?”

Splinter’s grip on his cane tightened. “I have already searched the lair, I cannot find Leonardo. I fear he has gone to the surface.”

Raph growled to himself. “Leo’s stealin’ my place here, I’m supposed to be the hot-headed disobedient one, not him.”

“That does not matter right now, Raphael.” Splinter snapped, making them all flinch. “You must find your brother. He is in no condition to be running around on the surface, let alone fight. If the foot find him before you do, I fear the worst…”

Raph nodded towards the exit to the lair, his sai in his hands once again. “Then we’d better get goin’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, chapter 2 done! I currently only have plans for 1 more chapter, but I will be planning more when I’m bored in school.  
> For any of you that are wondering, yes Raph is going to be infected too but the time between when Leo was infected and when he was during the episode was pretty huge (there was like a whole fight) so that’s why he’s perfectly fine right now.  
> Till next time!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally got this chapter done! Took me long enough. I'm so sorry it took this long, but my mind tends to wander so I kept getting distracted.  
> I had to do soooo much research for this chapter and you'll probably see why as you read, unfortunately I'm not a turtle expert or anything (I also couldn't decide what to call a bed in Donnie's lab. It was either a gurney, cot or stretcher but I got so frustrated I eventually just went with calling it a stretcher...) Another thing I need to ask is do you guys think I'm writing from Leo/Raph's POV too much? Do you guys want me to write from Donnie/Mikey's POV? Please let me know! I don't want to disappoint anyone!  
> Italics: Leo's POV  
> Okay I'm gonna shut up now...  
> ENJOY!
> 
> Disclaimer: I believe I have to write this at the start of every chapter so no, I don't own TMNT... No matter how much I wish I did...

Raphael wiped rain water from his forehead, his mask and gear long soaked through. Leo just had to pick the night when it rained, although Raph doubted that was on purpose. The blue banded turtle may have been desperate to leave the lair, but even he knew that the roof tops could be dangerous in this weather, making the ledges slippery and making it harder to see.

Leaping to another roof top with room to spare, Raph slowed his pace until he was running alongside Donatello, his brainy brother doing his best to keep most of the rain off his shell cell. “Found him yet, Don?” Raph had to shout for his voice to be heard over the wind, recognising a storm on its way.

“Just locking on to his signal now.” Donnie replied, just as a small blue dot appeared on Donnie’s map of the city, a few block away from their current location and moving away. “He’s still running, at least nothing bad has happened to him.”

* * *

_I'd run across the rooftops in the rain before, although I had to admit this was an entirely new experience._

_Every sound just seemed like hammer against my skull and I wondered if that was the effects of whatever I had or if I was just imagining it. I found I was having to rest constantly, yet I also knew my brothers had probably noticed my absence and were looking for me, so I never rested long. I didn't have a problem with them finding me, it was just that I knew if they did find me, they'd drag me back to the lair. Where I'd be stuck until whatever this was passed, or unless my body gave up fighting first._

_Combined with the strong winds, I was finding it hard to breathe. Only to add to that, the world suddenly seemed to tilt every few minutes, making me stumble sideways. Even as I thought about it, I could feel it happening. My hand reached out for something to steady myself, yet found nothing but air and I landed hard on my plastron, again. I'd lost count of how many times that had happened now._

_I lay there for what felt like hours, yet couldn't have been more than a minute. I would have stayed longer, but more sounds broke through, louder than anything else, which told me I had to keep moving._

_"Leo!"_

_"Leo, come on bro! Where are you?"_

_"C'mon fearless, you know you ain't meant to be out here!"_

_My brothers' voices were still distant, but growing closer. I didn't want them to find me, not yet anyway. As I tried to stand my legs shook and threatened to give out, but held for now. Now my pace was slower as I continued along the rooftops, barely more than a jog. They were going to catch me._

_Lost in my thoughts of my brothers finding me, of Master Splinter and how disappointed he'd be, I didn't see the ledge until it was too late._

_I moment I realised what was going on, I tried to stop, to pause on the edge of the ledge at least a few stories high. A fall from that height, even with my shell to protect me, could be fatal. Yet rather than stop like I'd planned, my feet slipped out from under me on the wet rooftop, and I toppled right off the edge._

_The fall seemed longer than it should have been but the ground of the alleyway was anything but soft to land on. When I did land, the first thing I heard was a crunching sound which I could only presume was my plastron cracking in several places. The wave of pain that followed only told me I was right._

_I didn't know how many ribs or bones I must have broken in that fall, but it felt like being hit by a bus over and over. I also didn't know if I was lucky I was conscious or not, the pain pointed to the latter. Despite what Donnie has always told me about what to do if we’d cracked our carapace or plastron, I ignored the part about staying still and attempted standing again. I was able to lift myself a few small inches off the ground before my arms gave out and I collapsed again, biting back the scream that came with it. Now I could feel the rain water on the ground mixing with a more thick and sticky crimson liquid._

_Something told me I was going to be here awhile._

* * *

“He’s slowed down, a lot actually.” Donnie shouted to Raph and Mikey. “He’s on a roof a few blocks away… Wait, he’s gone into the alley.”

Raph sighed. “He better not be goin’ back. We ain’t been lookin’ that long and I was just startin’ to have fun.”

Donatello stayed silent as the three lept over a gap between two buildings, studying his map as he landed. “If he’d gone back into the sewers I’d be able to see that. He’s still on the street level.”

“So why’s Leo in an alley?” Mikey asked before Raph could.

Raph huffed as he watched the distance between them and Leo closing rapidly on the map. “I don’t know Mikey, but let’s just hope it’s for a small rest. Like sensei said, if Leo ran into the foot…”

* * *

_I let a small gasp escape as I collapsed to the ground again, having managed to drag myself a further few centimetres. Not much further and I’d be hidden from the street behind a dumpster, but the last metre or so might as well have been miles._

_Looking back, I spotted the trail of blood I’d left and hoped no one decided to try to follow it to my hiding spot. It was only a few metres long, but even from my original place I wouldn’t be visible._

_Taking a deep breath, I managed to raise myself off the cold ground again and pull myself closer, another few centimetres. Then another. And another. Another… Another... When I was finally hidden, I collapsed, finally giving in to the wall of darkness that swallowed my vision and mind._

* * *

Raphael crossed his arms as they stood on the ledge of a building, apparently looking down at the alley Leonardo was in, only to find it empty. “Sure ya haven’t broken that thing Don? He ain’t here.”

Donnie only shook his head before making his way down a nearby fire escape. “It doesn’t make any sense.” He said once they were standing at the edge of the alley. “He should be nearly right in front of us…”

“Uhh, guys?” Mikey was standing a small distance ahead of them, looking down at the ground.

Raph just ignored his youngest brother, more concerned with finding Leo. “Look around Don, he ain’t here!” He snapped. “This is what we get for relyin’ on technology!”

“Guys?” Mikey tried again, although it seemed Raph had pissed off Donnie too much for either of them to pay attention to the orange banded turtle.

“Got any better ideas, hothead? I’m sure you have some amazing way to track down Leo. For all we know, we could have been going in the wrong direction but this was the best lead we had!” Donnie gave Raph a shove, hard enough to make the turtle stumble backwards, surprising them both.

Mikey then shoved his way between them before they could continue. “GUYS! You need to look at this!” He then grabbed them both by the arms and half dragged them over to the ground he’d been looking at before.

Now that they looked, Raph could make out darker stains on the ground and when Donnie gently tapped it with the tips of his fingers, they came away red. “Blood, Leo’s I presume…” Donnie then picked something else off the ground, holding it up to Raph. “Raph, what does this look like to you?”

Raph frowned as he took the small object, barely bigger than the palm of his hand. It was a light orange colour and a few centimetres thick. If it wasn’t for its weight and strange material, Raph would have said it was a shard of broken glass. “I dun know Donnie… Feels kinda like real rough plastic. Ya know what it is?”

Donatello slowly nodded, taking the object form his older brother then held it against his plastron. Raph’s eyes widened when he realised it was almost the same colour and texture. “I think its Leo’s…” Donnie muttered.

“DONNIE!” Mikey’s shout startled both of them and they turned to see him pointing at something behind a nearby dumpster, a horrified look on his face.

Raphael noticed the trail of blood seemed to lead over to Mikey, and he could only guess what his youngest brother had found as he walked over and peered behind the dumpster.

Leo lay on his plastron just behind the dumpster, his head turned towards them and eyes closed. His breathing was strained and faint, sometimes pausing before he'd manage to draw in another breath. The worst part to Raph was the fact that his older brother seemed to be lying in a puddle of his own blood.

Michelangelo had turned away and as Donnie knelt by Leo, Raph put an arm around his youngest brother. He didn't know if he'd done it to comfort his little brother, or to have an excuse not to look at Leonardo any longer.

A small gasp from Donnie made him turn around, following his brainy brother's gaze to the mess that would have been Leo's plastron.

It was completely coated in blood, yet Raph could still make out the thick spider web of cracks that spread out from the middle. Of the cracked pieces, quite a few were missing and others had turned inwards, looking like they'd been used as knives to stab the blue banded turtle.

"How bads it D?" Mikey asked, his voice squeaking yet he refused to turn around.

Donnie paused as he scanned over Leo's injuries again before he slowly rolled their eldest brother onto his carapace. "We need to get him back to the lair, but carrying him like this will only make things worse..." There was something in Donnie's tone that made it seem like he wasn't telling them everything, and the uneasy glances that the purple banded turtle was shooting at Mikey only confirmed Raph's suspicions.

Mikey turned around now, but kept his gaze away from his oldest brother. "What if me and Raph go get the Shellraiser?”

“Best thing we can do for him right now. But first, give me your belts.” The purple banded turtle didn’t offer an explanation, but with Leo’s current condition, Raph wasn’t about to argue. He quickly removed his belt and handed it to is immediate younger brother as Mikey did the same. Without any further words, both Raphael and Michelangelo turned and headed for the nearest manhole, leaving Donnie with Leo.

For some reason, the run back to the lair seemed even longer than usual, and with every passing second Raph could feel his worry growing. He'd been worried like this before when Leo had come crashing through April's window, his shell cracked then too. He'd been in a coma for three months before he finally woke up, and even then Leonardo was having trouble recovering. Now this injury seemed even worse, his plastron almost non-existent. Could they even survive an injury like that?

Raph was snapped from his thoughts when Mikey spoke up. "Dude... I'm worried about Leo..." His youngest brother was running alongside him, all playfulness gone. "What if he... You know... While we're gone?" A small sob sounded from Mikey, quickly stopped by his panting breath.

"He won't." Raph said, keeping his gaze fixed ahead of them. "This is fearless we're talkin' 'bout. He'll keep fighting." Raph wasn't sure if he said that to convince Mikey or himself, but the rest of the run was spent in silence.

Reaching the lair, Mikey hesitated. "Wait, what're we gonna tell sensei?" He asked, peering inside the lair only to find no sign of Splinter.

"Nothing... He'll find out once we bring Leo back here." Raph muttered, heading for the Shellraiser and silently thanking Donnie for being able to repair it so fast after Snakeweek had thrown it around. Raph instantly went for the driver's seat, which would normally have sparked a complaint from Mikey about how he never got to drive although this time the orange banded turtle was silent. "Mikey, try and clear an area where we can lay Leo down."

Nodding, Mikey set about moving things around to create a, hopefully comfortable, place for Leonardo while Raph tried to keep the Shellraiser at a decent speed despite how anxious he was to get back to Leo and Donnie.

The drive seemed even longer than the run had been, although looking at a clock Donatello had installed near the front, Raphael realised they'd only been gone for nearly 15 minutes. Still, a lot could of happened. When Raph pulled up in the alleyway, he was glad to see Donnie still there with Leo. His eldest brother still lay on his carapace yet now Raph could see Donnie had used their belts to hold his cracked plastron in place. Shattered seemed to be a better word though. At least he was still breathing.

Mikey remained in the Shellraiser as Raph went to help Donnie lift their injured brother inside. Every few seconds, Donnie would stop them to check Leo's wounds then continue, finally laying him carefully down in the small area Mikey had cleared in the back of the Shellraiser. The drive back to the alley that would allow them into the subway was much longer than the drive from the lair. With Leo injured so badly, they couldn't risk the movement of the Shellraiser making their brother worse.

When they did finally arrive back at the lair, Splinter was waiting for them. Mikey was first out of the Shellraiser as he ran straight for Donnie's lab to get a stretcher ready for Leo.

"Michelangelo? Where are your brothers? Did you find Leonardo?" Splinter asked as his youngest son ran past.

Mikey slowed slightly to answer his sensei's questions. "In the Shellraiser, Leo's hurt bad."

Leaving Mikey to do whatever task he'd been given, Splinter turned towards the Shellraiser where he could see Raph and Donnie carrying Leo between them, slowly making their way towards Donnie's lab. Donatello's eyes never left his eldest brother, mostly staying on his plastron where blood was soaking through the small amount of bandages Donnie had applied during the drive back. Raphael preferred not to look at Leo, the whole scene reminding him of the time Leo had come crashing through April's window, unconscious and barely alive. Leonardo had survived that, now they could only hope it would be the same again.

Splinter followed behind his sons as they moved into Donnie's lab, carefully setting Leonardo down on the stretcher. He'd gone completely limp and if it hadn't been for his laboured breathing, he would have been thought dead.

Shooing his family a small distance back to give him space, Donnie gently pressed his fingertips to Leo's neck, glancing over at a clock on the wall as he counted his brothers pulse. As the minute slowly dragged on, the colour seemed to drain from Donatello's face. Swallowing back his panic, he started dressing the wound then wrapping it up in bandages to keep pressure on it. Looking over Leo's other wounds, most were just minor cuts possibly from stones in the alley while the next most serious being a large cut across Leo's forehead, which Donnie guessed was from when he'd fallen.

As he carefully dressed the wound, Donnie realised that his brother probably had a few internal injuries too. He'd check once his family was out of the way. Satisfied that Leo wasn't going to bleed out within the next few minutes, Donnie turned back to his waiting family.

"So?" Raph was naturally the first to speak up, uneasily glancing at Leo. "He gonna be okay?"

Donnie paused as he thought his answer through. "He's stable for now..." He said slowly. "You should all get some rest, I'll stay up with Leo."

"No way dude! We're staying up until you're sure Leo's gonna be okay." Mikey then glanced back at Splinter. "Right sensei?"

Splinter sighed, knowing that even if he told Raphael and Michelangelo to go to bed, they wouldn't. "We will wait outside to give you room, Donatello." He then motioned for his other two sons to leave, giving Donnie a small nod before closing the lab door.

Donatello sighed, looking over at Leo again. "You gotta pull through this Leo... For everyone's sake."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so... I have some good news and some bad news.  
> The good news is I have planned out every part of this story, and it will probably be somewhere around 8 chapters long. Therefore, updates should be faster.  
> The bad news is I have to go on a trip for the weekend and won't even have my laptop... So I can only start writing chapter 4 on Monday. So sorry! Please don't kill me!  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I HAVE A VERY GOOD REASON FOR THE SLOW UPDATE!  
> I cut my finger... So typing takes longer...  
> Thank you all for being patient and enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: Pretty sure if I owned TMNT I wouldn't be writing a fanfic about Leo falling off a building... We all know he's way too awesome to let that happen. We all also know Raph isn't as caring as I make him.

* * *

Donatello sighed as he rubbed his eyes, sitting at his desk in front of a blank monitor. Beside him lay a bunch of books on the bone structure of humans, two books lying open, each with a coloured bookmark on that page. One showed the legs, how the joints worked and how the bones would repair themselves when damaged or broken, including what would happen if not handled correctly. The next show the torso, mostly ribs and spine. Donnie didn't even want to think about the outcome if Leo had broken his spine in his fall. While they might have a shell and their spine might be thicker than that of a human's, there was always the chance.

Sighing again, Donnie stood up from his chair on stiff legs and walked over to the stretcher Leo lay on. Donnie had managed to make a oxygen mask to fit their more unique facial shape which was now on Leo, the tube connected to an oxygen concentrator machine that worked better than using oxygen cylinders. Normally, Donnie would have built this stuff from things he'd found, but the risk was too high. Currently it seemed like missing one oxygen concentrator wasn't effecting the local hospital.

Making sure it was all still running smoothly, Donnie turned his attention to Leo's injuries. After days of being unconscious, Leonardo still showed no sign of waking. Mikey wasn't bothering to hide how much it was effecting him, always watching his eldest brother whenever possible. Raph had been putting on a brave show for Mikey, trying to reassure him that Leo would be fine, but Donnie could see past the mask.

Now that he slowly pulled away a strip of bandage to check the large wound that had replaced Leo's plastron, he could make out the pinkish-green skin around the edge, a sign that it was starting an attempt to heal. This had to be some of the best news Donatello had heard in days. While Leo had been unconscious, Donnie had found himself fighting to keep his brother alive. There had been multiple times Leo hadn't been able to breathe and at one point his heart had almost stopped completely. Now he'd made sure to keep Leo stocked up constantly on painkillers and antibiotics, hoping that it would fights off whatever else was wrong with his brother too.

Whatever this illness was, it wasn't helping either. Not only was Leo's condition making it hard for him to breathe, but this illness was choking him. After the first few times it had happened, Donnie had realised he was powerless to help and now had to sit and listen to his eldest brother almost choke to death or try to cough his insides up. The fact he was still alive was a miracle.

The sound of knocking on his closed lab door snapped Donnie out of his thoughts. "Come in." He said as he walked back over to his desk, slumping back down into his chair as he began looking through the books again. He heard the lab door open then close again before someone walked over to his desk.

"Here." Donnie glanced up to see Raph holding out a cup of coffee for him. He gave Raph a small smile of thanks as he took it, sipping the hot liquid as he eyes went back down to his books. Raph stood there a few moments watching Donnie. "How's he doing?" Raph muttered, narrowing his eyes at the books Donnie was reading.

"His wounds seem to finally be making an attempt at healing themselves." Donnie said then paused to take another sip of his coffee. "From what I can tell, he landed on his knees first then his plastron less than a second later. His thigh bones are almost shattered and you've already seen his plastron..." Donnie couldn't help but glance over at Leo again, watching him take in another strained breath.

Raph just slowly nodded and turned to leave before pausing. "What about that cough or whatever he has? Any luck with that?"

Donnie perked up at this, glad that Raphael had reminded him. "Actually, I think I'm getting somewhere." He nodded over to a microscope on the other side of his desk, two small slides next to it. They each contained a small circle of blood and both had a label. One read 'Leo' and the other 'Don'. "I've been comparing my blood to Leo's. There's definitely something there, but what I found weird is that it doesn't seem to be like any disease I've ever seen..."

"Okay... Meaning?" Donnie ignored Raph's sigh as he reached for one of his closed book, quickly flicking through the pages until he stopped on one showing the white blood cell and how antibodies fought of diseases.

Turning the book to face Raph, he pointed to the antibodies and antigens. "Normally a disease will use antigens to infect someone. Antigens have kind of like puzzle pieces on them, that an antibody will need to match to beat the disease. Whatever Leo has, it's 'puzzle piece' is much more complex than normal. To put it simply, that's bad."

Raph had a very small look of concentration on his face as Donnie talked, then he rolled his eyes at the last part. "Yeah, I kinda guessed it was bad, Don. Can ya make a cure then?"

"With lots of research, it's a possibility." He set the book back down before looking back over at the microscope. "It'd be helpful if I could get a sample of yours and Mikey's blood too, then at least we can know if either of you two are infected as well."

Raph nodded, which Donnie took as an okay, then walked over to the lab door and opened it again while Donnie turned to prepare two needles. "HEY! Shell for brains! Get over here!"

Donnie chuckled, turning his head slightly just in time to see Mikey come leaping through the lab door, falling against Raph's shell once Raph had turned back to Donnie and letting his arms hang over his older brother's shoulders. "What's up, D? Did Leo wake up?" Without waiting for an answer, Mikey peered over at Leo, either ignoring or just not hearing the low growl from Raph.

Donnie slowly shook his head, also looking over at their eldest brother. "Sorry Mikey, not yet. I just wanted to get a sample of yours and Raph's blood so I can make sure you two haven't got whatever Leo has. Last thing we need is one of you two falling all over the place in coughing fits..."

Mikey put on a pout, using to hide his actual disappointment and worry about Leo. "Awww, and I was thinking things were gonna start getting exciting again..."

"What 'bout this?" Raph smirked as he grabbed both of Mikey's arms, easily swinging the younger turtle over his head and onto the ground, sitting on his plastron.

Donnie just smiled as he sat back into his seat, slowly drinking his coffee as he watched his two brothers.

"Raph! That's not fair, I wasn't ready!" Mikey tried pushing Raph off, yet his older brother proved to be too heavy. Sighing, Mikey gave up and let his head rest against the floor with a small thump, scowling at Raph's smirk.

While Mikey was sulking to himself, Raph managed to smack him across the head. "You're a ninja, ya ain't meant ta be able ta be taken by surprise."

Mikey frowned like he normally did when trying to come up with something smart to say. "Yeah... Well... You're a ninja too! And ninjas can sneak up on other ninjas cus they have ninja training too so it's like... Like normal people sneaking up on each other! It just depends on who's the better normal person!"

Raph just huffed. "So what you're saying is that I'm the better ninja?"

"I never said that!"

"Yeah, ya did."

"Did not!"

"Think it over, Shell for brains. That's what ya said."

"You've said to never listen to me before!"

"Whatever chucklehead."

Donnie rolled his eyes as their little argument went on, only speaking up once he'd finished his coffee. "Once you two are done, I'd like to get that blood sample."

"Right." Raph rubbed the back of his head as he stood up, his own way of silently apologizing. He then helped Mikey up.

* * *

**Sorry but I really can't write scenes with drawing blood... I kinda got a phobia of needles and even the word makes me shiver. Sorry...**

* * *

Placing the two slides that contained Raph and Mikey's blood under the microscope, Donnie frowned. Mikey's was looking normal, which made him relax slightly. He then swapped the slide for Raph's, feeling his heart seem to stop as he recognised similar cells to those he'd seen in Leo's. Raph had this infection too.

The worry must have showed on his face as he looked back up at his two brothers, as Raph quickly glanced down at the label on the slide under Donnie's microscope then back up to the purple banded turtle's face. "I have it, don't I?" Raph said, sounding strangely calm despite his normal temper. Donnie could only nod slightly before Raph continued. "And Mikey?"

"No, Mikey is fine. From what I can tell, this 'thing' can't spread. However you haven't showed symptoms yet. I can only guess that Leo was in contact with the source for much longer than you. Whatever that might be." Donnie had been about to sit down again when a small groan sounded from across the room.

Mikey, being the energetic one he was, seemed to teleport over to Leo. "Leo? Dudes I think he's waking up!"

Donnie rolled his eyes as he pushed his younger brother aside to get to Leo. "Seriously Mikey? Give the guy some space." He then looked down at Leo, who was squinting through what would be bright lights of the lab to him. "Leo? Can you hear me? Can you speak?" Donnie's top priority right now was to check Leo didn't have any brain damage, that cut on his head had showed there was a chance.

At first, it seemed like Leo hadn't heard. Yet slowly his eyes adjusted to the light then focused on Donnie. "Yeah, I can hear you Don." Despite how long he'd been asleep, Leo looked exhausted, his eyes seeming to struggle to stay open.

"Dude! We were so worried!" Mikey threw himself at his older brother, pulling him into a tight hug. Donnie smiled until he noticed Leo's jaw clench, only guessing that Mikey's hug was causing him pain. Before Donnie could say anything, Mikey had tightened the hug slightly and Leo gasped, his eyes shut against the pain.

Mikey quickly pulled away. "Oh, sorry Leo. You okay?"

Raph's hand came out of no where, smacking Mikey across the back of the head. "Course he ain't, shell for brains. Ya really think he woulda healed in three days? Though he has a point. Are ya tryin' ta get yourself killed?"

Leo's eyes slowly focused on Raph, then he frowned. "Who the hell are you? Where's Raph?"

Both Raph and Mikey glanced at each other in confusion while Donnie froze. Leo now looked between the three, his frown deepening. "You do realise that's not our brother, right?"

"What are ya talkin' 'bout Leo? How can I not be me? Seriously, how many other mutant ninja turtles do ya know?" Raph gave a nervous laugh, yet it slowly died off as he looked over at Donnie. "Don?"

"Would you two mind waiting outside? I need to talk to Leo quickly." Donnie said slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on their eldest brother.

"Sure dude." Mikey gave Raph a push towards the lab door then grabbed Donnie's arm and pulled him closer. "You really think it's not Raph?" He whispered.

Donnie lowered his voice too. "No, I think Leo's got more damage to his brain than I thought. You just stay with Raph, I'll see what I can do."

Mikey nodded as he released Donnie, catching up to Raph and putting an arm over his shoulders. "So, Raphie. You up for some super robo mega force?"

"Whatever, chucklehead." The lab door then closed, cutting off the rest of their conversation.

Donnie then turned back to Leo, dragging his chair over beside the stretcher. "How you feeling then Leo?"

 "Like Mikey decided to play pinball with my head..."

"Okay. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Uhh... I think I was trying to drag myself behind a dumpster?"

"Yeah, didn't make it very easy to find you." Donnie smiled at the small laugh that drew from Leo. "So what's up with Raph?"

Leo's laugh instantly cut off. "That's not Raphael."

The fact that Leo had used Raph's full name surprised him. Usually he only called them by their full names when they were either in a lot of trouble or he was being serious. "What makes you think that?" Donnie chose his words carefully, although the look Leo gave him meant he hadn't gotten away with playing neutral.

"Donatello." Again with the full names. "You don't seriously believe that  _thing_ out there is our brother?"

"I have no reason to believe it isn't Raph. Even Sensei thinks it's him, so why don't you?"

 "I don't know, but I just have a feeling it's not Raph." Leo snapped the last part and Donnie flinched. After a few seconds of silence, Leo sighed. "Sorry, Don... I didn't mean to snap."

Donnie slowly shook his head, giving his brother a pat on the shoulder as he stood up. "It's fine Leo, you've been through a lot these past few days. Just rest for a bit, we can talk later." With a mumble of agreement from Leo, Donnie gave his injuries a quick check before leaving the lab to let his older brother rest.

* * *

**Meanwhile... (A few minutes ago)**

Still with his arm around his older brothers shoulders, Mikey gave him a small poke. "You are the real Raph, right?"

Raph shot him a glare. "Course I am. Ya ain't really buyin' what Leo said, are ya?"

Mikey instantly put his hands up in a mock surrender, "Wow dude, chill. I was just messing with you. I'd know if you weren't Raph."

"Yeah? How come?"

Mikey just rolled his eyes, easily hoping over the back of the couch and resting his hands behind his head once seated. "You're my bro, be kinda obvious if you weren't... Well, you. Like that time you had your brain switched with a Kraang. That was obvious."

"It was a Kraang, shell for brains. We'd be able ta tell if they swapped with anyone. Well, maybe not Casey." Raph huffed, then fell silent. He leant against the back of the couch and Mikey frowned, seeing what appeared to be guilt on his brother's face.

"You alright Raph?"

Raph was about to reply with 'I'm fine' only to release Mikey would probably see straight through his lie. His youngest brother always seemed to notice when something was wrong. "It's my fault Leo's like this..." He muttered, turning his gaze down towards the floor.

Mikey turned around so he was kneeling on the couch, resting his head on the back as he watched Raph. "What makes you say that?"

"I know this is more Donnie's kinda area, but I'm thinkin' that whatever gas Snakeweed used is what caused all this... I was the one in the Shellraiser with Leo when he passed out, if I'd acted quicker, we might not be in this mess and Leo might not be fightin' for his life in there." He sighed.

Mikey gave him a poke, making Raph look at him. "Dude, you can't blame yourself. That stuff didn't go anything to the humans, so if it did cause all this, we had no way of knowing. There's nothing you could of done, Raph."

Raph gave a small smiled. "Since when did you become oh so smart an' non-Mikey?"

Mikey just waved it off, smirking to himself. "I've always been that awesome, just been keeping it hidden from you all."

"Whatever knucklehead, what'd ya say to goin' topside for a bit?"

"Let's go!" Mikey vaulted back over the couch, following his older brother towards the exit when another voice called out from behind them.

"Where are you two going?" Donnie stood by his lab door, giving them both a puzzled look.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Just topside for a bit Don. Don't worry, we'll call if anythin' happens."

Slowly nodding, their brother started walking towards his room. "Just be careful."

"Careful is my middle name, D!" Mikey called over his shoulder as both him and Raph left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know in the last chapter I said I had a plan and it was gonna be like 8 chapters long. Yeah... That's gone out the window... It'll be a minimum of 8 chapters, but probably longer. I'm terrible at sticking to plans...
> 
> Also I would love to hear your feedback for switching the POV to Donnie and sorta Mikey. It wasn't easy but I survived!
> 
> Thanks for reading and next update should be in a week or so!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So many comments and last I checked, nearly 250 hits! I'm so happy!  
> Thank you everyone who has shown your support in the comments, it means so much, especially because this is my first fanfic.  
> Hope you enjoy the chapter!
> 
> Disclaimer: Once again, the turtles are not mine. We all know they're just too awesome to be owned by me.

"Last one to the water tower has to clean the bathroom!" Mikey laughed over his shoulder at Raph who was on the rooftop before his.

Raph smiled as he landed on Mikey's rooftop, just before the younger turtle leapt onto the next one. "You're on, knucklehead." Just by running, Raph found himself relaxing. Like this, he could almost forget that Leo was being slowly eaten away by some disease, that he was struggling against his injuries just to breathe. Or that Leo thought he wasn't his brother. That one hit him the hardest.

With all those thoughts coming back, Raph didn't even realise he'd slowed down until Mikey's voice reached him. "I WON! Dude, you're almost as slow as an actual turtle!"

Rolling his eyes, Raph stopped beside his youngest brother and smacked him on the back of the head. "Whatever." He then sat down on the edge of the rooftop, shortly joined by Mikey.

"When do you think we should head back?" Mikey asked after a few minutes of silence.

Raph shrugged. They'd been out for a few hours now, and knowing Donnie he'd be worried yet he wasn't ready to go back just yet. "I guess soon. Don's gonna start gettin' worried. How 'bout we have another race back?"

"Sure! Ready, set, go!" Mikey leapt up and started running the moment the words left his mouth, laughing at the growl Raph gave.

"Damnit, Mikey!" Raph shouted as he got up to follow his brother.

* * *

**After some time running...**

Raph smirked when he overtook Mikey as they leapt across a gap between rooftops. "C'mon shell for brains! You're normally the speedy one!" Raph called behind him. When no reply came, Raph frowned, only to realise he couldn't hear Mikey's footsteps behind him anymore. "Mikey?" He stopped, looking behind him to find the rooftop empty. "Aww shell..."

Drawing both his sais, Raph froze in hopes of hearing anything that might give him a clue about his youngest brother's location, if he could hear it above the normal noise of New York. Slow, almost silent footsteps behind him made Raph tense, ready to spin around and strike. Waiting for whoever it was to be nearly behind him, he spun around only to find a cockroach in his face.

Letting out a loud scream, Raph fell back onto his shell and would have tucked into it if he hadn't seen it was Mikey holding the cockroach, doubled over in laughter. "Oh dude! You should of heard yourself scream! It was like, ahhhhhhh!" Mikey only made a small sarcastic scream, before collapsing into laughter again.

Raph just started at the orange banded turtle for a few moments, before a familiar anger arrived. "MIKEY!"

As Raph leapt for him, Mikey let out a yell and started running. "C'mere Mikey! I'm gonna pound ya in ta next week for that!" Raph found himself chasing his brother over a few rooftops before managing to catch up with him again, pinning him down. "Got any last words, shell for brains?"

Mikey was saved from having to answer, or more like interrupted, when the two found themselves suddenly enclosed in a ring of footbots.

"Oh great, these guys..." Raph growled, pulling Mikey to his feet before the two took on a back-to-back defence. 

While there hadn't seemed to be many, it was quickly made clear that there were more on the way, as after Raph struck one down, another just seemed to take its place. "Mikey, contact Don. We need help. Now!"  Raph snapped, hating that they were already having to call for back up.

* * *

Donnie glared down at the notes infront of him, reading it over again and again until he'd burnt the information about Leo's condition into his head and he still wasnt coming up with any ideas.

Letting out an irritated sigh, Donnie rested his head on the table. "Stupid useless brain..."

"Calm down, Don." Leo said from the stretcher. After nagging Donnie for so long, he'd finally convinced him to turn the stretcher so he could watch Donnie work easily. "You'll get there eventually."

Donnie gave his eldest brother a small smile but inside he wasn't convinced. In the few hours Leo had been asleep, his condition had worsened. Each breath was like a battle and without the oxygen mask he probably wouldn't be able to breathe at all. Right now, Donnie felt completely useless. "Guess you're right, the answer has to be here somewhere."

The room then dropped into silence besides Leo's labored breathing. It seemed to last forever until the sound of his t-phone made Donnie almost jump out of his seat. Seeing it was Mikey calling, he rolled his eyes before pressing answer and had to hold the phone away from his ear as Mikey shouted through it. "D! We got a problem, like, a big one! Get your shell here, we're-" Donnie then heard the Tphone hit the ground, before the signal cut off.

"That's never good..." Donnie muttered, bringing up a map on his computer and waiting for it to show the location Mikey's call had been from. With that done, he then brought up a second one to show Raph's current location and relax slightly when he saw they were in the same location. _At least they're together..._ He grabbed his Bo staff that had been leaning against his desk then started to head out of the lab, until Leo stopped him.

"What's going on Donnie?" Leo made a small attempt at sitting up, before lying back down again with a wince.

Donnie looked back over his shoulder from the door. "Just Mikey and Raph got into some trouble. We'll be back soon, don't move!" Before Leo could say anything else, Donnie turned and left.

* * *

Looking down at the map, Donnie frowned when he noticed Raph's location still hadn't moved. _That's either really good, or really bad..._ Being a few blocks away, Donnie strained his eyes for any sign of his brothers, and got what he was looking for when he saw a Foot ninja tumble off a roof and into an alley. Drawing his staff, he leapt straight into the mass which he guessed were surrounding his brothers, fighting to get to them.

"Donnie!" The shout grabbed his attention as he finally got a glimpse of his brothers. Mikey had been the one to spot him, and his younger brother had only a few bruises and cuts which for the amount of Foot soldiers he was fighting off, was impressive. Donnie had been about to ask where Raph was, until he realised Mikey was standing over their older brother, defending him. "D, happen to have any of those smoke bombs on you? I'm out."

Donnie nodded, knocking aside a few Foot soldiers to get to his brothers then pulled a smoke bomb from his belt, placing his staff back on his shell as he then grabbed Raph with one hand while throwing the smoke bomb to the ground. They only moved Raph a few blocks away, placing him down so Donnie could give him a quick check before they took him back to the lair.

Raph barely had anymore injuries than Mikey, and none of them would have caused him to fall unconscious. Noticing Raph's struggled breaths and slight coughs, Donnie sighed.

"What's wrong with him, D?"

"It's the infection Leo has. It's starting to effect Raph too... Come on, let's get him back to the lair."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for how short this chapter was, but I can only write really long chapters when I feel like it and today wasn't my day.  
> I wanted to ask if anyone has any ideas of alternate endings they want me to do? You don't even need to have an idea, just throw an episode at me and go "Hey, write an alternate ending for this one!" if you want. I'm already planning to do one for S.3 Ep.23 so any other ideas are welcome!  
> Also does anyone know if Mikey's nickname from 2003 Raph is chucklehead or knucklehead? I can't remember and can't find anything on it and it's annoying me :/  
> Thanks!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM NOT DEAD!  
> Wow, I am so sorry for the lack of updates... Just... Wow...  
> Anyway, you will be glad to know there are now only 3 chapters left of this story! And I have planned each of them.  
> Right, I'll shut up as I'm sure you want to get to reading after such a long wait.
> 
> Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own TMNT. (You can't buy them with cookies, I've tried)

There was no way of hiding the worry on Splinter's face as he spotted his two youngest sons carrying Raphael into the lair. The way they carried him and Raphael's slightly tinted grey skin only reminded him of his eldest son, who he'd been watching over while Donatello was out.

Standing aside, the rat let them pass into the lab where Michelangelo soon had the task of keeping Raphael upright in Donatello's seat while the latter prepared a stretcher for him.

With Raphael now laid on a stretcher, Donatello was able to start examining him and it was at this point that Splinter and Michelangelo decided to leave him to his work. As Michelangelo was about to walk off once they had left the lab, Splinter called him back. "Michelangelo, a moment please?" 

Nodding, Michelangelo made his way back over to Splinter yet the rat noticed how his normal bouncy walk or cheerful expression was absent. Sighing, Splinter realised he couldn't imagine how hard this must be on his youngest son. "How are you feeling, my son?"

Now it was Michelangelo's turn to sigh. "Honestly sensei, I'm worried."

"As are we all." Splinter said. "Yet I sense you are not just worried."

"What if Leo and Raph don't make it?" Splinter found himself slightly surprised when Michelangelo threw himself forward to hug Splinter, yet he returned the embrace. "I'm just scared sensei... Why'd it have to be them? Why do they have to suffer through this?"

Splinter only tightened his hold on his son as he felt sobs work their way through the turtle. "I do not know, sometimes there are not always answers for our questions. But your brothers are strong, we must have faith that they will pull through this."

He felt Michelangelo nod and Splinter smiled. "How about we make some dinner? I'm sure the others will need it."

* * *

Donnie stared down at the two notes he was currently comparing. One listed the symptoms Leo was experiencing along with his average heart rate and breaths per minute. The second listed the same, yet Raph's. The difference he saw wasn't good.

There was barely any.

Somehow, Raph's symptoms had almost caught up with Leo yet it had all happened in under an hour. What had taken weeks to develope in Leo, had appeared in Raph just like that, like it had been hiding itself until now.

The only major difference between the two was the breathing, yet that was a small relief to Donnie. Leo still required the oxygen mask, yet Raph hasn't gotten that far yet, which was good seeing as Donnie didn't even  _have_ another mask. Let alone another oxygen concentrator machine.

Sighing, Donnie turned to the only other good thing about all this. Testing on blood samples from both Leo and Raph where finally starting to show results, positive ones. They were finally on their way to a cure. At the current rate he was working, Donnie had a rough guess that he could have a hopefully successful cure in a weeks time. The only question was if his brothers would last that long. 

With nothing else left to do while his latest  round of tests were still forming results, Donnie made his way out of his lab at towards the kitchen, where he could hear the remaining members of his family moving around. The scent told him Mikey was making another of his pizza-omlettes. Hopefully it was better than the last one.

Of course, Splinter heard him before Donnie had even set foot in the kitchen. "Ah, Donatello. How is Raphael?" By the looks of things, Splinter hadn't been helping Mikey out but that wasn't a surprise. The youngest of the turtles seemed fine on his own.

"I'm not sure sensei. It's too soon to tell yet, but from what I've got so hard, it looks like Raph has suddenly developed every symptom that Leo has within an hour even though it took weeks for Leo. They're almost at the same stage." Donnie then sat down at the table, resting his chin on his arm. "I've been running tests and they're starting to show progress, but I don't know if it'll be done in time..."

Mikey had been tossing eggs around while Donnie spoke, then caught them and paused at Donnie's last sentence. Putting the eggs down, Mikey dared to ask the question no one else would. "How long do you think they've got left, D?"

Donnie had been over this in his lab too, debating with himself how long he thought Leo and Raph might have. "Again, too soon to tell. But at the current rate, Raph will probably have about a week left, give or take a few days."

"And... Leo?"

Donnie looked down at the table. "No more than four days..."

"Hmm... I may have a way to give Leonardo and Raphael more time."

Donnie raised his head suddenly. "Really? As I said, I only need a few days extra then, if everything goes to plan, we'll have a cure ready."

Splinter nodded. "Michelangelo, could you finish making dinner please? Donatello, I would like to attempt the healing hands on Leonardo and Raphael. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use them, but it seems there is little choice."

Behind Splinter, Mikey seemed to be doing anything to distract himself from the conversation which included rolling one of the eggs around until it accidently fell, yet he caught it before it could smash.

Donnie stood up and moved over to his only younger brother and rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Mikey, we'll get through this. Leo and Raph will be fine."

* * *

Donnie slowly moved Raph's stretcher beside Leo's, leaving a gap between them where Splinter now stood. "I cannot promise you this will work." Splinter said, looking between his two unconscious sons. 

"We still have to try sensei, a few extra days could save them both." Looking at Leo and Raph now, he could see why Mikey had been so worried. They barely even looked alive, yet Donnie was so used to seeing them strong and well, as the ones him and Mikey looked up to.

Splinter began the mantra, forming each shape with his hands as he muttered the words. "Rin. Pyo. Toh. Sha. Kai. Jin.  
Retsu. Zai. Zen." He then placed one hand on both Leo and Raph, pausing before removing them. "That is all I can do. We can only hope it works."

"Hai, sensei..." Donnie returned to his desk as Splinter left, checking on his tests to find them positive again. A good sign.

He then made his way over to Leo and Raph, seeing no change in their condition. "Let's just hope that what Splinter did wasn't pointless." He muttered to himself. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for how short this chapter was, but I feel even worse because it's been so long since I updated.  
> Anyway, 3 chapters left but I have a bunch of endings in mind. I'd just like to ask though, would anyone want me to write a sequal to this? Just curious.   
> Thank you all for being so patient and I'll try to update as soon as possible!
> 
> Also Alexa, don't worry I'm planning the story you requested right now. Still debating if I should start it now or after I finish this story.


	7. Ending 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ending 1 of this story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this story almost killed me. Literally.  
> I was up stupidly late last night trying to finish this on my phone while listening to music and ended up falling asleep and managing to wrap the headphone cord around my neck. Yep, woke up at 2 am choking and I'm sure once you read this chapter it'll be called karma...  
> But it was worth it, and here's the chapter. Hope it makes up for the shortness of the last chapter. 
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned TMNT, I would NEVER let this happen to Leo and Raph.

The next few days proved to be some of the hardest of Donnie's life.

It had been three days since Splinter had attempted to heal Leo and Raph, yet it hadn't seemed to make a difference. With the clock ticking for both of his older brothers, Donnie found himself on a set routine of only a few hours of sleep per day, spending 99% of the remainder of his time trying to find a cure and the small amount of time left after that was to eat or use the bathroom. After Leo had started choking again while Donnie had been eating breakfast with Mikey and Splinter, Donnie had refused to leave the lab.

It hadn't been unusual for Mikey to hang around in there either, mostly trying to keep some sort of fun in everything. However, when he nearly knocked over a batch of Donnie's experiments, he'd been banned from the lab too. Splinter just decided it was best to stay out of the way anyway.

Now, Donnie growled to himself as he viewed the results of the latest experiment, only to find it a failure. He'd found that after Splinter had attempted to heal his brothers, the virus had once again changed its structure, meaning Donnie was starting from scratch again. He slammed his notebook down onto the desk, showing his unusual anger. "Nothing! Not even close!" He ranted to himself. "How is this even possible? If that virus mutated the same as any other virus, it wouldn't have changed that much... But I've tried everything! It's like I'm dealing with a completely new virus!" He'd been pacing back and forth in front of his desk as he talked, glaring down at the floor like it was its fault.

"Geez Donnie, calm down would ya? How's anyone supposed ta get any sleep with you rantin' like that?"

Donnie spun around at the voice, eyes wide as they settled on Raph's green ones. "Raph?"

Raph just rolled his eyes. "No, the Easter bunny." He muttered, making small attempts to sit up.

Donnie helped him slowly sit up, then leapt straight into doctor mode. "How are you feeling? Any dizziness? Difficulty breathing? Do you have a temperature?" Donnie answered the last one for himself by placing his hand on Raph's forehead then pulled back, holding up his hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two, unless you count your thumb." Raph mumbled, already feeling a headache pounding on the inside of his skull. "And I'm feelin' fine." He paused to cough. "Well 'cept for that..."

Donnie sighed before pulling Raph into a hug. Raph just smiled to himself as he wrapped his arms around his immediate younger brother. "I was out for awhile then?"

"Yeah, four days total." Donnie muttered then pulled back. "Leo hasn't moved at all, unless you count the times he's almost choked to death."

Raph nodded, another coughing fit starting up. With each cough, Donnie could feel Raph putting more of his weight on him, like each one was slowly draining the life from him. Just that simple thought worried him.

"Raph, you need more rest. Doesn't matter that you've been unconscious this whole time, you need some real sleep." Much to Donnie's surprise, Raph gave a nod of agreement and let Donnie lie him down again. 

Raph seemed to pass out the moment Donnie wasn't touching him and he had to resist the temptation to check his brother was still alive. Sighing to himself, Donnie walked back over to his desk and turned to a new page in his notebook. He recorded down how Raph had behaved while awake then glanced over at a clock to get the time he'd fallen back to sleep. 10:27pm.

Turning back to his notes, Donnie prepared for another long night in the lab. 

* * *

Donnie hadn't even realised he'd fallen sleep until he was startled awake. His left cheek was numb from lying on his notebook and he was still holding his pencil. Blinking a few times, he looked over at the clock. It had read 11:54pm the last time he'd check, but now read 4:05am. Maybe he really did need more sleep. 

Now that he was more awake, his brain only just registered what exactly had awoken him. A loud thud. Puzzled, he looked over at Raph yet his immediate older brother was still sleep on the stretcher, not having moved. Then Donnie's eyes focused on the stretcher next to Raph's, only to find it empty. 

Before full panic could set in, Donnie spotted his eldest brother on the floor and it was most likely he had simply fallen. Donnie wouldn't have been too concerned until he heard the familiar sounds of Leo choking.

"Crap..." Donnie muttered to himself as he knelt down by Leo, having to turn the turtle over as he'd landed on his plastron. Over the past few days, Donnie had normally dealt with Leo choking by sitting him up, which would fix the problem within a maximum of ten second. This time, Leo didn't stop. 

Quickly, Donnie checked Leo's throat and chest,  hoping to find something that was causing this so that he could do something about it. When he found nothing, then he started to panic. 

As turtles, they had a pretty big lung capacity, so this could go on for awhile before Leo would... He didn't want to think about that. 

When Donnie glanced down at Leo, he noticed his eldest brother was awake and looking up at him, his own panic reflected in his eyes. 

Movement from above told Donnie Raph was awake. "The hell is goin' on?" Raph muttered before he rolled over and his eyes settled on Donnie and Leo. "Leo!" Donnie was pretty sure that even if he had said something, nothing could have kept Raph on that stretcher. Soon Raph was kneeling by them too. 

"It's not stopping..." Donnie couldn't hide his panic from his voice. "Leo's normally fine after I sit him up. I can't do anything."

After a small hesitation, Raph was standing again. "I'm goin' ta get sensei." Again, Donnie doubted he could have stopped Raph even if he tried. 

Now Donnie looked back down at Leo. "It's gonna be okay Leo..." He said, wondering if he was actually trying to reassure Leo or himself. He then took Leo's hand in his, feeling Leo tighten his grip. "It'll be fine."

 Leo's choking ceased for a moment and he managed to give Donnie a small nod, assuring Donnie that he could hear him talk. Lying on the floor like this, his head on Donnie's lap, Leo realised just how powerless he was. It was like some part of him knew that he wasn't going to make it, yet he had no way of telling his brothers this and had to watch them desperately try to stop him choking.

Past his useless gasps for air and slowly darkening vision,  Leo was aware that it was not just him and Donnie in the room. Their sensei knelt on his left side, Mikey and Raph on his right. They were speaking, yet it sounded like they were underwater and Leo couldn't make the words out,  unable to tell if they were talking to him or now. 

Leo's body seemed to suddenly act on its own, thrashing around and clawing at his throat as his head spun. It was this movement that made him realise he'd lost feeling in his arms and legs, not able to feel the hands that were now holding him down. 

Donnie couldn't help but be slightly amazed by Leo's lung capacity, but it was obvious he wasn't going to last much longer. When he'd started struggling, Donnie had found himself in a panic and only brought back by Raph's voice demanding what they should do. Once Leo was pinned,  his struggles had begun to get weaker by the second. Now they were barely more than shivers and his attempts at taking a breath where barely even noticeable. 

"Donnie, he ain't gonna make it." Raph said, his eyes never leaving their eldest brother. 

All eyes were on him as Donnie looked down at Leo again. He then grabbed Leo's shoulders, giving them a shake. "Come on Leo, there's nothing stopping you from breathing, this is the virus making you think you can't. You got to beat it Leo!"

It seemed Leo had heard him, as he made more attempts at taking a breath. Yet after a few more seconds of a desperate struggle, Leo's attempts died down again and Donnie had realised he'd stopped struggling.

Another few seconds passed where no one dared to move, before Mikey broke the silence. "Is he?..." He couldn't finish the question and looked hopefully to Donnie, yet Splinter was the one to answer. 

"I'm afraid so, my son..." The rat then reached over to Leo, sliding the eyes closed that had been focused on Donnie.

"I'm so sorry sensei... This is all my fault." Donnie almost choked on his words, which only reminded him of his now lifeless brother lying before him. "I couldn't save him..."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up at his sensei. "This is not your fault, Donatello. There is nothing that could have been done."

"I could have found a cure!" Donnie snapped, his battle to hide his tears lost as they spilled down his cheeks. "I could have saved him..." He muttered the last part to himself as he now lowered his head to rest his forehead against Leo's. "I'm so sorry Leo..."

Through out the rest of the day, everyone tried their hardest to ignore the empty seat at meals, or the quietness of the dojo. Or, the most noticeable to Raph, the silence when he said something that would have normally sparked a lecture. Yet it was Donnie who had the hardest thing to deal with. The body under the cloth in his lab. 

Despite that, he still spent most of his time in his lab, determined to save his now-eldest brother. Raph did his best to stay out of the lab, yet he was no where near well enough to be walking around, so spent most of his time either in his room or on the couch. 

Donnie had gone to getting the least amount of sleep possible, only sleeping for a few hours at a time and that was when Splinter forced him to. 

While he tried not to show it, Leo's death effected Mikey the most. He tried to stay cheerful, to keep teasing Raph or irritating Donnie but with all the stress and pressure Donnie was putting himself through, and the unspoken fear that Raph was going to end up just like Leo it didn't work. 

* * *

It was a few days later, nearly dinner time, when Mikey burst into Donnie's lab. "It's Raph!" He shouted, the panic clear in his voice and expression. "He can't breathe!"

They both rushed out and Donnie spotted Raph instantly, sitting on the couch. By the looks of things, he'd been choking for awhile yet not been able to tell anyone. 

"Raph?" Donnie reached forward to grab Raph's shoulder and hold him upright, yet before he could touch his brother, Raph managed to pull in a small breath.

"NO!" Both Mikey and Donnie jumped back at Raph's harsh word. "Stay away from me! You did this to me! You won't g-get... my b-brothers... t-t-too!..." Raph was breathless as he finished, using whatever strength he had left to pull himself away from them, falling to the floor.

Mikey now gripped Donnie's arm. "What's wrong with him, D?"

Donnie forced himself to make another grab for Raph. "I don't know, Mikey..."

* * *

Raph desperately tried to draw in another breath as Snakeweed lunged for him again, it's claw barely missing his shoulder. "No..." He managed to let out a strangled scream. Not only was this Snakeweed, but it had two heads as well, seemingly talking to each other as they advanced on him.

Just as his vision was starting to darken, the two-headed Snakeweed split, now forming two of them with one head each. One stepped around behind him, it's claws snaking under both his arms as he struggled. The second's claws closed around his legs and they both lifted him as he thrashed around.

They carried him into Donnie's lab, setting him down on a stretcher. Raph was unsure if he was even struggling anymore, his body didn't seem to want to obey his commands. Wait, he was in Donnie's lab? But then... Where were his brothers?

His head seemed to be the one thing that he still had control over and he quickly scanned the room for any sign of his family. When he looked to his left, Raph spotted another stretcher with a body on top, strangely mutant turtle shaped under the white cloth that covered it. It was then that Raph realised the area of cloth over the chest was cut away, the edges stained crimson-red.

What little colour that was on Raph's face drained away and he turned back to the Snakeweeds, managing another breath before screaming. "YOU ATE MY BROTHERS!"

* * *

Mikey almost jumped out of his shell as Raph screamed again, the words easy to understand. _You ate my brothers._

It was obvious Raph couldn't take this much longer. He was more grey than he was green and his struggles were barely even noticeable.

"He's been able to draw breaths." Donnie muttered, his I'm-completely-freaking-out-right-now-but-I'm-acting-calm face on. "But he's screaming and using it up before the oxygen can enter his blood stream."

"Can't you put like, an oxygen mask or something on him?" Mikey asked, no where near as calm as his immediate older brother was pretending to be.

"Normally that's a bad idea, but it's our only shot." Donnie said as he dragged the machine they'd used for Leo over to Raph, slowly attaching the mask to Raph's face.

* * *

Raph let out another scream as Snakeweed 1 placed something over his beak. At first, it did nothing, until Snakeweed 2 turned something on and a steady stream of cockroaches flooded the mask. As more and more of the insects poured in, they started nipping, clawing and biting at Raph's beak in an attempt to gain entry.

Keeping his jaw clenched, Raph's only hope was to shake his head around in attempts to dislodge the mask. That was, until Snakeweed 1 grabbed the sides of his head, forcing him to stay still.

* * *

Donnie could only hope that by keeping Raph's head still, it would allow him to take a breath and keep it in this time. Leo's body under the white cloth seemed to stand out, only reminding him that if he failed, he would be losing another brother.

With the oxygen mask on, Raph seemed to want to suffocate as he struggled against Donnie's hold, his beak tightly shut.

"Donnie! He's barely even trying to breathe anymore!" The panic in Mikey's voice only fuelled his own panic, leaving him unable to think for a few precious moments.

It was in those few moments that they lost Raphael.

* * *

It was decided that the next day would be Leo and Raph's funerals.

The drive up to the farmhouse was silent and whatever small amount of conversation there was once they arrived was either small discussions about the arrangements or Splinter thanking those that came, which wasn't many.

The only humans to turn up were April, Casey and Dr. Kurtzman, who brought the Mighty Mutanimals along too.

Without a priest or many of the other things normally used at a Japanese funeral, the ceremony was kept short with a few words exchanged about Leo and Raph before the two were then buried alongside each other by Casey and Slash. Without gravestones, they marked out the area by carving _L_ and _R_ into the roots of a tree nearby yet not visible unless you knew what to look for.

* * *

On the 18th of November, nearly a month since Leo and Raph's dead, Donnie and Mikey stood on the ledge of a building overlooking most of New York city. Turning his head to the side, Donnie was fast enough to catch a glimpse of a shadow vanish into an alley. "Looks like the Foot are finally causing trouble again." Donnie smiled as he pulled his bo staff from its hold on his carapace, the cloth around the handle now laced with blue.

"About time! I thought they'd disappeared off the face of the Earth! Not like that's bad or anything." With his normal cheerful smile on his face, Mikey pulled his nunchucks from his belt, the handles now tied in red cloth. "Let's go kick some Footbot butt!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for how short the funeral was... But no matter how much research I did, I couldn't come up with anything good. Also PLEASE DON'T MURDER ME! I still have to write 2 more endings. That's right! I could never kill off Leo and Raph and live with myself.  
> Thank you all for reading! ^.^


	8. Ending 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO SORRY! I feel so bad for how long this took and the chapter is tiny!  
> I'm gonna go sulk about what a cruel author I am to you all, so enjoy the chapter and I will see you in the end notes.
> 
> Disclaimer: In the whole time it took for me to post this chapter, I still didn't gain ownership of the turtles...

When Donnie finally got another set of positive results from his tests, he was starting to worry. He'd been working non-stop for the past few days since Splinter had tried to help Leo and Raph. It had helped, although had only reversed the virus' symptoms by a day or so, but Donnie was starting to doubt that it had helped Leo at all.

Over the past few days, Leo had been drifting in and out of consciousness and whatever time he spent conscious, was spent screaming. It wasn't screams of pain though, if anything they sounded insane. Raph was the complete opposite, dead silent, and that scared Donnie. It was the fact that Donnie would have expected Raph to be the one screaming, not their normally calm and controlled eldest brother.

Yet with this latest set of tests, he was finally getting somewhere. The only reason he was worrying was the fact that he didn't know if Leo and Raph would recover fully from this, it was obvious the virus affected their brains and the risk of permanent 'damage' was unpredictable.

Mikey happened to walk in at this point and Donnie could have swore Mikey had a telepathic connection to everyone so he knew when to come in a cheer everyone up. "How's it going, D?" Mikey had jumped onto Donnie's chair, causing it to almost crash into his desk.

"Next day or so and I think I'll have a cure." Donnie couldn't help but smile when he saw the huge grin on his younger brother's face. 

"Alright! Leo and Raph are gonna be okay." Mikey turned the chair so the back was to Donnie before leaning back, looking at his genius brother upside down. If he hadn't moved so fast, he probably would have missed the small frown that disappeared as suddenly as it had arrived. "Something up?"

Donnie sighed, setting down the notes he'd been taking. "Honestly Mikey, I'm not sure that Leo can take much more of this, another day might be too long..."

"Oh come on D! This is Leo we're talking about, he's hardly going to give up that easy." Mikey jumped out of the chair, almost knocking over the few test tubes that contained the positive test results. He then put one arm around Donnie's shoulders. "You finish up your sciency stuff here and I'll go make lunch." Mikey had just walked out the lab before he stuck his head back in. "Leftover Jelly Bean and jalapeno pizza okay?"

Donnie chuckled. "That's fine Mikey." He watched Mikey run off to the kitchen then turned back to his work, determined to finish the cure by tomorrow. If he could manage that, both his older brothers had a good chance of surviving.

* * *

 The next day, Mikey couldn't believe how bored he was. 

He sat half on and half off the couch, his head resting on the floor. Despite the size of his comic book collection, he'd somehow managed to read nearly all of them and was now too bored to try to read another. 

He was starting to wonder how fun it would be renaming everything in the lair until the sound of the lab door opening made him jump and roll off the couch. Jumping to his feet, Mikey was greeted with a very bouncy and excited Donnie. Usually that was his thing... 

"Mikey, I've done it! I've got a cure!" Before he knew it, Mikey was being shoved into Donnie's lab, or what seemed to be left of it.

The room was barely recognisable, paper and random equipment lay everywhere. You'd be lucky to spot even a bit of floor under all that mess. As for Donnie's desk, just picture a giant mountain of papers with a bit of a computer screen sticking out the top and a chair to the side, yeah that was Donnie's desk right now. 

There was still one obvious difference to the room though. "Hey Mikey." Raph was sitting up on his stretcher, watching him with amusement. 

"RAPHIE!" Mikey almost knocked his older brother off the stretcher with the force of his hug. 

Raph laughed, patting his shell as he hugged him back. "I missed you too little bro."

"I've given the both of them the cure." Donnie said from across the room, where he was trying to clear some of the floors of paper. He soon have up, walking over to Leo instead. "It could be a while before Leo wakes up though, he's still recovering from his fall." To Raph and Mikey, it was obvious Donnie was hiding something from them, but they decided not to push him about it right now. 

"Like I said before D, he'll be fine." Mikey then grabbed his two older brothers by the arms, dragging them out of the lab. "Come on Donnie, you need a break and Raphie needs to eat."

"But I need to keep an eye on Leo." Donnie protested, even if he knew it was pointless. 

Mikey rolled his eyes, "You'll be 10 minutes Donnie, what's the worst that can happen?"

* * *

Turns out a lot can happen in 10 minutes.

As they sat at the tables eating (of course) pizza, a loud beeping noise filled the air, just one long noise that didn't stop.

Donnie was in his lab in seconds, Mikey and Raph sharing a confused look before they too headed to the lab at a slower pace that Raph could manage. When they got there, the noise had cut off and Donnie stood ridged by Leo's stretcher, looking down at their eldest brother.

The both of them slowly made their way over to Donnie. "Is he?..." Mikey couldn't finish the question, which earned him a gentle squeeze from Raph's arm that was around his shoulders.

Donnie gave a small nod. "I wasn't fast enough... My cure didn't have time to take effect." Now they could hear the shake in his voice and see the tears streaming down his face.

Raph leant closer to Mikey. "Take Donnie out the lab, I think lookin at this is only gonna make him worse." Mikey nodded, fighting back his own tears as he then took Donnie's arm. Their brainy brother let Mikey lead him out without protest, leaving Raph alone.

Raph sighed, looking down at Leo's body. "I can't believe ya Leo." He was talking before he knew it, but without the others around there was no reason to stop. "Fearless was beaten by a plant... I ain't sayin that ta be mean, Leo. Just not the way I expected ya ta go." His own tears were freely flowing down his cheeks. "Don't worry bro, I'll take good care of the others. I would say we'll see ya soon, but I'm sure you'd kick our asses right back ta our bodies if that happened. I'll make sure they're safe, Leo. Nothin is gonna happen to our little bros. I promise"

* * *

 Splinter sighed as he watched his sons preparing to leave for the surface. The death of his eldest had effected them all, but it effected Raphael the most.

The new eldest was slowly becoming the leader Splinter had known he could be. His temper had hardly faded, if anything it had grown stronger but Raphael had also gained more control. His rage was certainly something to fear. 

It had taken weeks to finally make Donatello see that it was not his fault Leonardo was no longer with them. After many private chats with his son, Splinter had finally made him realise that sometimes not everyone can be saved. He had tried his hardest, there was nothing more he could have done. 

Despite the events, Michelangelo had recovered faster than expected, keeping up his cheerful and playful attitude in order to help the others through their own grief. There was no doubt that Leonardo's death had still done damage that could not be fixed, but that didn't stop Michelangelo from being his usual self.

Now, Splinter could only smile. Michelangelo had tied a small blue bandana around his neck, while strips of blue fabric wrapped around Donatello's Bo staff. Hints of blue showed in Raphael's mask tails. Leonardo was still with them, no matter what. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So thanks for reading! I hope to get the last one out in the next few weeks.  
> Also I have a new "story" out called My little journal. It is literally what it says, it's so I can keep you all updated without having to use this notes at the start and end of a chapter.  
> So, I'm gonna go hide now... Cya!


	9. Ending 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a promise to myself to finish this story by the end of the year. So with two days left on my deadline HERE IT IS! I hope this makes up for the lateness of the previous chapter. Enjoy! 
> 
> (Please note, this chapter continues from about halfway through the previous chapter. It continues on from when Mikey dragged Donnie and Raph out of the lab, just so I don't have to rewrite that bit ^.^)
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned the turtles, I would put Leo through this hell...

Mikey was quiet happily swallowing his food whole, well really he was chewing but barely slow enough for his hot-headed brother to notice.  
Raph's attention however, was on Donnie. Their brainy brother was picking at his food, glancing over his shoulder every few seconds in the direction of the lab, an action that was slowly driving Raph nuts. "Donnie, would ya quit worryin about Fearless? He ain't goin anywhere so just eat ya food then ya can go check on him."  
Donnie have him a small smile. "Guess you're right, worrying isn't going to do anything." Again, Raph could only feel that Donnie was hiding something from them. He just wished he knew what.   
Once Donnie had finished, he went straight to his lab as expected. When he came back out, there was a large grin on his face. "It's working, Leo is starting to show signs of recovering. Speaking of which, how are you doing Raph?"  
Raph actually had to think for a second. He wasn't coughing, and the only thing wrong with his head was a slight dizziness which Donnie had told him might happen after he woke up. "Back ta normal, besides that dizziness ya mentioned but it's barely even there. I'll be fine."  
Donnie nodded, sighing in relief. One brother was okay, but the other... How could he explain the damage to them? How could he explain it to Leo? Now Donnie was questioning if it might have been better that Leo had given in to this virus.

* * *

 

Two days passed. Two whole days they waited patiently for Leo to recover and wake up. When it finally happened, there weren't words to describe their joy.  
Over the past days, the three seemed to have hours where they would all sit in Donnie's lab together. Donnie on his chair, Mikey on the desk and Raph leant against the wall or door. Occasionally Splinter would join them, mostly so he could see how his eldest was doing. It was one of the times that Splinter was in the lab that they heard the faint moan from across the room.  
Being the one used to responding quickly to sounds of pain or just discomfort, Donnie was by Leo's stretcher before the others had even realised what was going on. "Leo! How are you feeling? Any tightness in your chest? Trouble breathing? Headaches? Nausea? Dizziness?"  
Leo let out a small chuckle. "Calm down Donnie, I feel fine." Leo's voice was weak, his throat dry despite Donnie's attempts to keep him hydrated. Leo look exhausted. Donnie knew that all the time Leo had been resting, he'd really been fighting a battle inside himself.   
Now the others were by Donnie's side, taking it in turns to hug their brother while he remained lying down. _Please don't ask to move around yet Leo, I'm not ready to tell you.._. But it was like someone had told Leo to do just that.   
"Hey Donnie, if it's okay with you could I atleast sit up?" Donnie froze and he was aware of his family's states. "Uhh, Donnie?"  
"That... That might not be a good idea Leo..." Donnie muttered.   
"What are ya talkin about Donnie? Ya let me up the moment I was awake."  
"Well... You weren't sick as long as Leo was." Despite his attempts, Donnie knew they'd seen straight through his lie, well half lie. Leo really had been like that for longer.  
Leo sighed, clearing deciding he wasn't going to get Donnie's permission and tried to sit up himself. His shell had barely made it off the stretcher before he fell back again.  
"Let us help you bro." Mikey said, shooting a questioning look at Donnie when their genius brother didn't try to help. Raph and Mikey slowly pulled Leo up into a sitting position, then helped Leo slide himself forward to stand. The thing was, he didn't.  
The moment Leo tried to put weight on his legs, they gave out and Raph and Mikey had to stop him from falling. "Donnie! What the shell is goin on?" Raph asked, more of a shout really.  
"Donatello." Splinter spoke up from behind his son. "There is something you are not telling us?"  
Donnie sighed, he couldn't hide it any longer. He motioned for Leo to sit back down on his stretcher then walked over to his desk, returning with two small mirrors. He held one in front of Leo and the other behind, allowing Leo to see his shell. "Mikey, Raph. Could you hold there here please?"  
Slowly, his brothers took the mirrors from him and Donnie now points at a spot on Leo's carapace. His finger trailed a crack that ran horizontally across Leo's shell, about three quarters of the way down which would be just above his hips. "You see this crack Leo?"  
Leo nodded, frowning what what he knew would be a permanent scar across his shell. "That was caused when you fell off that building in the rain. At first I thought it was nothing but..." He sighed. "Leo, that crack is there because the fall also damage your spinal cord..."  
Slowly, Leo nodded again as he took the information in. "So what does that mean?"  
Donnie slowly looked around at his family, then moved in front of his eldest brother so he could look him in the eyes, taking Leo's hand in his as tears threatened to spill over his cheeks. "I'm so sorry Leo." He choked out. "But you'll be permanently paralysed from the waist down..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TAHDAH! What do you guys think? Do I need to write a sequel?
> 
> Well if so I'd like to ask if anyone would like to co-author it with me? I just really don't have many ideas right now and need someone to help out ^.^ if so, just comment or send me an email (dawnthevamp2001@Gmail.com)
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoyed! ^_^


	10. Tick-Tock: Comic Series

Hey everyone!

So either you just finished reading Tick-Tock or you've just noticed I added an extra chapter when it should be finished, but this is really important.

~~Since I've got a drawing tablet for Christmas, I've been drawing the turtles nonstop and have decided to make this story into a comic series on DA ^.^~~

~~Link to the comic: http://dawnthevamp.deviantart.com/art/Tick-Tock-Cover-Page-585662139~~

~~Updates will probably be once to twice a month.~~

~~Also sorry to everyone waiting for an update for Into The Abyss, I promise I will get it done just not sure when.~~

So sorry but after doing the first page I began to lose interest in it. But the sequel is now being written! :D

Well... That's all! Bai!


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